David Slater (Spoddendale)'s photos

Saturday 11 May 1985 (approx. 0930) - Percivals Motors (Oxford) Limited acquired the Abingdon Coaches business from the Williamson family circa 1982 and retained the identity with coaches wearing a green and yellow variant of the Percivals blue and red livery with fleet numbers in a combined series. Plaxton Supreme bodied Leyland Leopard 105 (647 PJO) was seen in Police Station Square, Mildenhall when working the 0845 Cambridge-Lowestoft service 747, part of a cross-country service between Bristol and Lowestoft worked jointly by Percivals, Premier Travel and National Express. This was day 2 of a diagram that would see the coach return to Oxford on the 1310 service from Lowestoft (due in Oxford at 1955). Normally coaches would leave the King Street lay-by and travel down St. Andrew’s Street then via High Street reaching this point from the street on the right. I suspect this driver was a little uncertain as the usual procedure. On the right of the photo are the premises of two erstwhile Mildenhall businesses, Lyn's Floral Design and Carter and Sons furniture store.

Saturday 6 April 1996 (Easter weekend) – W H Fowler and Sons (Coaches) Limited (Fowlers Travel) of Holbeach Drove, Lincolnshire N691 AHL seen in King’s Lynn bus station having worked their service 505 from Holbeach or Spalding. It is a Northern Counties Paladin bodied Scania L113CRL new in November 1995. Fowlers have been keen Scania users for a number of years operating various coaches plus double and single deck buses of that manufacture.

Saturday 6 April 1996 (Easter weekend) – W H Fowler and Sons (Coaches) Limited (Fowlers Travel) of Holbeach Drove, Lincolnshire N691 AHL parked in King’s Lynn bus station prior to loading for the service to Spalding. It is a Northern Counties Paladin bodied Scania L113CRL new in November 1995. Fowlers have been keen Scania users for a number of years operating various coaches plus double and single deck buses of that manufacture.

Saturday 6 April 1996 (Easter weekend) – W H Fowler and Sons (Coaches) Limited (Fowlers Travel) of Holbeach Drove, Lincolnshire N691 AHL seen attempting to depart King’s Lynn bus station on their service 505 to Holbeach and Spalding. It is a Northern Counties Paladin bodied Scania L113CRL new in November 1995. Fowlers have been keen Scania users for a number of years operating various coaches plus double and single deck buses of that manufacture. The First Eastern Counties double decker was parked on a skew so was preventing the Fowlers bus getting through. I never thought about the close similarities of colour combinations used by Fowlers and those on the GRT inspired Eastern Counties livery.

Friday 3 September 2004 - These two English coaches were, quite wrongly in my opinion, occupying the De Lijn bus stop bay in Grote Markt, Poperinge, Belgium whilst the passengers walked round the town and the drivers had lunch in Hotel Amfora (directly behind the rear of the Harris coach). Friday is market day in Poperinge and the market square (left) is not accessible for parking until 1300. Leading coach is TWH Travel of London Iveco Eurostar with Harris of Bromsgrove (28 JGH) tri-axle Neoplan behind. We had numerous stays at Hotel Amfora on our trips to Belgium. It was a bolt hole for me in the busy 1990s! I could happily sit on the front patio watching everything go by whilst sipping a Hommelbier! Thank you to the proprietors Stef and Carmen for the ambience and hospitality. They moved on but our memories have stayed with us.

Bank Holiday Monday 29 May 1995 – Heading westbound on the A11 near Barton Mills in the evening sunshine, a Jonckheere bodied coach lettered Hamptons of London. I believe this company may have been Hampton Coaches (Westminster) Limited of 54b Trundleys Road, Deptford, London SE8.

Monday 14 June 1999 - Seen on the A11 near Four Wentways, Cambridgeshire a tri-axle MAN powered coach with Spanish built Noge bodywork operated by Hamilton, Uxbridge.

Saturday 14 December 2024 (1157) – A charming collection of knitted items displayed on top of the Royal Mail post box outside Heron Foods in Mildenhall. The items include Father Christmas, a teddy bear in his sack, an elf, a penguin family and a Royal Mail post box. In the background standing in the bus station is a Coach Services Limited Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7RLE single decker which had recently returned after working the 1117 West Row circular service 358) and a Mulleys Motorways Limited East Lancs Omnidekka bodied Scania N94UD working the 1120 service 355 from Bury St. Edmunds to Holywell Row and Beck Row.

Saturday 14 December 2024 (1154) – A charming collection of knitted items displayed on top of the Royal Mail post box outside Heron Foods in Mildenhall. The items include Father Christmas, a teddy bear in his sack, an elf, a penguin family and a Royal Mail post box.

Friday 6 December 2024 (0953) – Father Christmas making an early call at the cottage near the bus stop at Stanton near Bury St. Edmunds.

Monday 2 December 2024 (1215) - Mulleys Motorways YJ57 YDB, a 10.2 metre long Optare Solo new to Peterborough City Council (#600) in December 2007, seen in St. Andrews Street, Bury St. Edmunds. The Council began a small scale bus operation in 2007(?) in order to operate a number of regular bus services which could not be run viably by a commercial operator thus requiring Council subsidy. On July 1 2011 this operation was transferred to Enterprise Peterborough, a partnership created by the Council with outsourcing contractor Enterprise. In 2013 it was decided that these bus services, branded ‘Local Link’, would again be contracted out and Stagecoach in Peterborough became the chosen bidder.

Monday 2 December 2024 (1213) - Go-Ahead owned Konectbus 871 (PN09 ELU) in the livery of H C Chambers and Son seen in St. Andrews Street, Bury St. Edmunds as it arrived on the 1105 service 753 from Sudbury. It is an Optare Olympus bodied Scania N230UD that had been new to Metrobus (888) in June 2009 for operation on Transport for London contracts.

Monday 2 December 2024 (1214) - Go-Ahead owned Konectbus 871 (PN09 ELU) in the livery of H C Chambers and Son seen in St. Andrews Street, Bury St. Edmunds as it arrived on the 1105 service 753 from Sudbury. It is an Optare Olympus bodied Scania N230UD that had been new to Metrobus (888) in June 2009 for operation on Transport for London contracts.

Friday 29 November 2024 (1213) – Belle Coaches (Shreeve), Lowestoft BD18 TKO seen in busy Friday traffic on the A11 approaching Fiveways, Barton Mills. Heading towards home on a ‘Turkey & Tinsel’ Tour based at Folkestone and Canterbury. Plenty of tinsel on the dashboard! It is a Mercedes-Benz Tourismo new to GHP Trading (Williams), Ancaster near Grantham in May 2028.

Friday 29 November 2024 (1213) – Belle Coaches (Shreeve), Lowestoft BD18 TKO seen in busy Friday traffic on the A11 approaching Fiveways, Barton Mills. Heading towards home on a ‘Turkey & Tinsel’ Tour based at Folkestone and Canterbury. Plenty of tinsel on the dashboard! It is a Mercedes-Benz Tourismo new to GHP Trading (Williams), Ancaster near Grantham in May 2028.

Monday 2 December 2024 (1310) - Go-Ahead owned Konectbus 455 (AN61 LAN) in the livery of H C Chambers and Son seen in St. Andrews Street, Bury St. Edmunds as it arrived on the 1205 service 753 from Sudbury. It is a Scania K230UD OmniLink that had been new to Anglian Bus in October 2011. The registration number sort of spells out the Anglian name. Anglian Bus was acquired by Go-Ahead in 2012 and almost immediately merged with Konectbus which Go-Ahead had acquired two years earlier.

Sunday 14 April 1985 (approx. 1340) - Percivals Motors (Oxford) Limited acquired the Abingdon Coaches business from the Williamson family circa 1982. Duple Dominant bodied 5615 RO was operating the 1110 Lowestoft-Bristol service 747, a cross-country service between Bristol and Lowestoft worked jointly by Percivals, Premier Travel and National Express. The location is between Elveden and Barton Mills near where the local road from Mildenhall joined the A11 close to Highlodge Farm – the road marking for the filter lane can be seen. When the dual carriageway was completed the minor road could no longer be accessed at this point.

Sunday 14 April 1985 (approx. 1340) - Percivals Motors (Oxford) Limited acquired the Abingdon Coaches business from the Williamson family circa 1982. Duple Dominant bodied 5615 RO was operating the 1110 Lowestoft-Bristol service 747, a cross-country service between Bristol and Lowestoft worked jointly by Percivals, Premier Travel and National Express. The location is between Elveden and Barton Mills near where the local road from Mildenhall joined the A11 close to Highlodge Farm – the road diverged behind the camera. When the dual carriageway was completed the minor road could no longer be accessed at this point. The white vehicle marred my shot as the driver began an overtake of the coach before getting clear of the road markings.